


silhouette

by no_mourners_no_funerals



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A bit more graphic violence than canon, Carol Danvers is a queen, Did I say that I love Goose?, Everything is a plan, F/M, I love Goose, Loki is a misunderstood cinnamon roll, Odin’s A+ Parenting, PTSD, Slow Burn, Social Anxiety, Temporary Character Death, Thanos is a fucking grape and needs to die, Thanos’ plans will be crushed, The main OC is badass but not Mary Sue, Trust my rage, i don’t know how to tag, mentions of torture, plus one (1) secret one, sherlock has a cameo, temporary major character death, the infinity stones, ”we’re in the endgame now”
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2019-11-17 13:02:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18099038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_mourners_no_funerals/pseuds/no_mourners_no_funerals
Summary: "Loki, my son. I have a very important task for you. Somewhere, in the Nine Realms, lives an old enemy of Asgard. It's a powerful magical being, so due to your powers, I decided that you are the person who is capable of finding it and bringing it here, where it will be fairly judged."Odin sends Loki on a quest. Neither of them knows how much that single decision will impact the future of the universe. The burden of saving half of the population weighs on two people... who probably wouldn’t be your first choice as world-saving heroes. A mysterious being, the seventh Infinity Stone, magical apprenticeships, Mad Titans, extremely detailed plans and two magicians with backstories filled with angst are only a couple of things that can be found in this long slow-burn story starting a little before the first Thor movie.IMPORTANT!!!!I’ve read that after a longer break and concluded that it’s shitsothis is ON HOLD until i find time to actually REWRITE itsorry,author





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> this is a sad story. Probably. well, knowing myself it won't really work out. There will for sure be a happy ending.
> 
> so my dear readers (if you are there)... 886 words! which is very short but still, it's the prologue. and don't worry about the very midgardian style of thinking that loki has, it will be explained later on. prepare for the next boring three short chapters coz the action starts in four!!! (don't be discouraged, it'll be worth it)

> " _WE'RE BROKEN PEOPLE NOW_ " ~ "BROKEN PEOPLE" LOGIC & RAG'N'BONE MAN

Loki was sitting in the palace library, looking out of the window at the overly sunny landscape. After a while he sighed and started to play with magic. He remembered his Mother telling him not to overuse his powers, but a little practice wouldn't do much harm, would it? Suddenly, a guard disturbed the silence of the room.

"I apologise for the interruption, Your Highness," the soldier said, though his tone didn't suggest any regret at all, "but the King has asked or you."

Loki sighed and, as gracefully as he could (which means very gracefully), jumped down from the windowsill.

"Tell him that I'll be there in a couple of minutes," Loki answered and with a nod of his head, gestured the guard to leave the room. Once the door closed, the magician wondered what could possibly force his Father to call for his youngest son. He was aware that it was widely known that the younger prince didn't get along with the King very well. He wasn't overly fond of his dad and got used to the situation. Or so he told himself. He frowned in concentration, taking a walk around the library.

Realisation struck him like a lightning (ironic, really). If the King usually avoided his son, what could've been so important to change the stubborn mind of his? Appointing the heir to the throne! He wasn't dumb, he knew his chances of ruling were close to zero, but he made a promise. Promise that he would find out the real reason for the King's behaviour. 

He didn't believe, even for a second, that it was about his attitude towards fighting, so different from his brother's. More than a thousand years ago, when they were still kids basically, the subject was still fresh. The young prince got constantly hurt by the rumours about him and his fighting issues. Learning how to fight was one of the most important things on Asgard and had a long history of developing different styles and moves, effective for most Asgardians, even women. Loki, though, was different. His main advantage wasn't strength. He preferred using his agility, speed and illusions to win a fight. Unfortunately, most people seemed to think it was odd, weird. Unnatural. What a bullshit. He just had more than slightly different methods (and abilities) than his so-called friends. And rest of the world in fact. There were a few mages in Asgard, but they were usually weak, using their power for cheap tricks. His mother was an exception, but she too didn’t manifest her power often. He was different. He was more powerful, just like Frigga, but his magic was different, more... extroverted, no matter how weird it sounded. He couldn’t help using his power, it was his natural instinct. Asgradians didn’t see it that way. People accused him of cheating, called him a liar, even a freak when they thought he couldn’t hear. He pretended that it didn't get through to him at all, even though sometimes he just wanted to curl into a ball and fall asleep. Would be even better if he never woke up. Still, this option never came into question.So he learned how to conceal his emotions, so people couldn't use them against him. No one knew his true feelings, not even his mother. After all these years he got used to this. Putting his safe, cold and cynical mask was natural for him by now. Only sometimes, in the excluded library, he stared blankly at the old, yellow pages, not even trying to read, asking himself the same question again and again. How is using your natural abilities wrong?

He was always the odd one out. Everywhere.

Loki shook his head, leaving behind his feelings and controlling his power. A little more dwelling and he might lose those mere scraps of self-control and blow up half of the library in a magic blast.

Let's return to the actual problem. Even though his mind seemed to have infinite amounts of imagination, not even Loki could figure out a logical answer to the question nagging him. What caused the exclusion? Not his powers for sure (public opinion didn’t really bother Odin in pricate matters), even though he could see that his Father also didn't approve of using them in fighting. Or at all. Damn, he could even remember how Odin used to praise him for learning to control them. That was about 1400 years ago. So what else could it be? Obviously not his snarky attitude he couldn't control sometimes, it wasn't a reason strong enough. Loki sighed exasperatedly. He had truly no idea, but won't stop before he discovers the truth. It couldn't be worse than it was, right? His own Father ignoring his existence, his brother prefers fighting and his "friends" than talking to him, said "friends" didn't even bother to acknowledge his existence other than mentally abuse him and the only person who even tried to understand him was his mother.

Eventually, he decided that heading to the throne room was for the best, because it wasn’t very wise to piss the King off.

While walking down the palace corridors, nobody noticed his presence. And he wasn't exactly shocked. Even though he was the second prince, no one really seemed to care about his life, maybe except his mother.

The way to the throne room was incredibly long, which wasn't a surprise, actually. It's surroundings were the most crowded an loud place in the palace, so locating the library far away from it seemed like a logical decision. It gave him peace and silence from the chatter. 

The indistinct noises told him that his destination wasn't far away. After about a minute, he was standing in front of a huge, ornamented, golden door. He knocked, the sound resonating through the metal. Just after, they began to open slowly.

"Loki, my son..."


	2. i don’t play by the rules of the game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just as it says in the title. the beginning

 

> " _I DON'T PLAY BY THE RULES OF THE GAME_ " ~ GRACE VANDERWAAL

_Loki, my son. I have a very important task for you. Somewhere, in the Nine Realms, lives an old enemy of Asgard. It's an powerful magical being, so due to your powers, I decided that you are the person who is capable of finding it and bringing it here, where it will be fairly judged. Remember, that the most important objective of this mission is to capture it, not kill it. The importance of this quest is great, nevertheless not worthy of your death, for the creature does not perform any direct threat to Asgard. The being is certainly absent on Asgard, as well as on Midgard. Find it, bring it and don't kill it. Now, go._

Loki chose to walk on his way to the Bifrost. He liked the peacefulness and silence of the rainbow bridge. It gave him time to gather his thoughts. He repeated the Allfather's words again and again in his mind, still he couldn't quite get why Odin sent him on a mission right now. The heir is expected to be soon appointed and though the younger prince knew that he won't be the heir, he still wondered. The enemy, as Odin said, is old and doesn't directly threaten Asgard. The most probable, logical and unnervingly simple idea came to him while he was somewhere in the middle of the rainbow bridge. He stopped dead. Why hadn't he thought about it earlier? It wasn't a regular quest. It was a bloody test! A trial to see if he was worthy of ruling Asgard! No, not that. It was a trial, certainly, but not to prove himself. If the enemy was old and powerful, and still outside Asgard, it was impossible to find! Odin never let his threats live their own life, he _hunted_ them down. So what was so special about this one? It was never meant to be found by him. Odin knew that the being was too powerful, and yet he sent him. Oh, how he hated his Dad sometimes. Still, he wasn't as bitter as Thor would have been. Loki wasn't really keen on ruling. It was his brother who wanted to be at the centre of the crowd's attention. Loki, though, was a great observer. He saw how the burden of power laid heavy on his mother's and the councellors' shoulder's. The absent-minded looks, the drop of shoulders after a long day. Oh, yes, Loki knew that the burden of the crown was heavy, and while he did't want to bear it, he also wondered if Thor would be able. Still, there was no one else. It had to be the firstborn, it was always meant to be. No one would have supported the younger son of Odin, even if he would be the older one. He was the bloody God of Lies, weren't he? People would never accept him, not if they had another choice. It made him a bit bitter, even though he didn't want the crown. Truthfully, he would be happy with the independence of a prince, maybe he would be the King's advisor? Still, he will finish this mission successfully, even just to prove himself, to himself. Maybe to Odin a little bit too. With this conclusion he reached the Bifrost.

"Where are you going first, Silver Tongue?"

Excellent, he thought sarcastically, another reminder of how his whole attitude was a lie, thank you very much, Heimdall. Then, he actually thought on the question for a minute. Asgard and Midgard were clear. He wouldn't be able to get to Alfheim, the Elves of Light rarely let anyone potentially dangerous on their ground, not since all dragons were wiped out. The only realm with dragons and they were all dead. Let's leave Jotunheim and Muspellheim on the end, nobody liked those realms anyway, he'd check them later. Maybe let's start from Svartalheim? Abandoned, all the dark elves dead, it would make a nice place to hide. So be it.

"Svartalheim."

Heimdall raised an eyebrow in surprise, but didn't comment. He opened the Bifrost.

"Farewell, Loki."

"Farewell."

Only this he could say, before he was sucked into a ray of colourful light.

Svartalheim was a dead realm. There was nothing here, except ruins, rocks and dust. No plants, no animals. Not even a single mosquito.

Loki transformed into a cat, promptly after landing. In spite of what his brother might think, not a snake, but a black cat with green eyes was his favourite form. Searching through the realm took him about a week. Using his powers of course. He could sense magic from miles away like a shark senses blood in the water, even if it were just traces of casting a spell. The more complicated or powerful the charm was, the easier it could be traced. He felt something on the last day. The whole realm was full of traces of magic from the old war, but this thing was different. More fresh. After a while, he found an abandoned camp. Still old, but definitely newer than the rest of abandoned places. Of course, the ultimate clue that something was wrong, was the six feet tall wall of ice, surrounding the place, but not entirely, as if someone didn't control what he or she (or it) were doing yet. Needlessly to say, the whole place reeked of powerful magic. He could tell it was empty for hundreds of years, but at least he found something. Maybe it was a clue to whatever he was looking for. He went inside. Some animal skins, some pots. It looked like it was left in a hurry. Only one person had been living here, he could tell. In conclusion, from inspecting the place he deduced that the powerful something that made this ice was in fact humanoid. Like him and other higher beings, as they were called in history books. He was satisfied. Maybe his trip to Svartalheim wasn't entirely pointless! He knew he might be searching for a powerful sorcerer, in a humanoid form, capable of controlling ice. He could leave. He went about half of a mile away and shouted:

"Heimdall, take me back!"

Immediately, he was brought back to Asgard. Heimdall looked curious and maybe slightly irritated, 'cause he hid from his sight again.

"You found something, didn't you?"

"Maybe...?"

Loki took immense pleasure from teasing Heimdall, the man who was supposed to know everything.

"Where to now?"

Loki sighed with annoyance. Ice. Only one realm had beings that knew anything about ice.

"Jotunheim." He said with resignation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feelings? (if there are two end notes, I'm sorry, i don't know how to turn it off)


	3. speaking my lessons from the brain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another boring lil chapter  
> wait until maybe two more

 

>   _"SPEAKING MY LESSON FROM THE BRAIN_ " ~ IMAGINE DRAGONS "BELIEVER"

Heimdall was both curious and a little anxious about Loki's discovery. Usually, he saw everything, but both the young prince and the being he was searching for, developed a skill to hide themselves from his sight. He did not know how was this possible. He had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

***

The cold air hit him as soon as the light of the Bifrost left him. Not that it bothered him, he just acknowledged it. It was heat that made him uncomfortable. That was another thing that handicapped his contact with others. His brother and "friends" loved sun and hot weather. He preferred snow, or at least rain. Heat made him uneasy and tired. That was a part of why he loved to go out at night and look at the stars. From the palace roof he could watch galaxies and constellations, while no one was looking. Another part of him that nobody knew about.

Heimdall left him near the capital, where King Laufey lived. _The city itself must have been beautiful once_ , he thought, looking at the ruins of great columns made of ice and blue stone. Now, because of the war, it were just ruins. Dark and gloomy, remained not rebuilt, even though the war has ended hundreds years ago. He stepped through the gate. As soon as he did, two Jotuns emerged from the shadows, grabbed him by his shoulders and escorted him to the castle. Thankfully, they didn't touch his skin, because he heard that their cold touch burns Asgardians. The castle was beaming with the same gloomy majesty as the rest of the city. Loki noticed with slight confusion that the whole planet seemed almost abandoned, excluding him and his escort. It was nearly painfully quiet. He took in the view, suspecting that he won't return there in the nearest future. He sighed as the guards pushed him forwards. He didn't like being close to Ice Giants, but the escort wasn't exactly pointless. He could escape any second, but then he would need to work out the way himself. They were going where he exactly intended to be. To the King. And also maybe he would gather more information when he'll go peacefully. They entered the palace. It was as dark and sinister-looking from the inside, as it looked from the outside, but it still was breathtaking. He contemplated the sight in his mind, still looking calm and confident on the outside. Finally, they reached the throne room. It was a bit smaller than the one on Asgard and on the end, on a icy throne, sat Laufey. Loki bowed.

"What are you doing here, Asgardian?" Laufey's voice boomed through the hall.

"I am Loki, prince of Asgard. I come in peace, Your Majesty. If it wouldn't be too much of a hassle, I'd like to ask a few questions." Loki introduced himself. The King nodded.

"Then ask and leave."

"I was asked to find a possible threat to the Nine Realms. I do not know for sure what it is, but I know that it is a very powerful being, who has an ability of producing and controlling ice. I do not accuse anyone of anything, but if Your Majesty has any information of who or what it may be, anything can be useful." 

"What would I benefit from telling you anything?"

"Elimination of a possible threat to Jotunheim, Your Majesty."

To Loki's confusion, Laufey, instead of answering, started laughing. Loki itched to ask what was so funny that he said, when the King finally said something.

"Oh, pathetic Asgardian. I have nothing to fear, for the 'powerful being' as you call her, will be sooner my ally than a 'possible threat'."

"Why are you so sure about it? How do you know who was I talking about?" Loki started to be exasperated and forgot who he was talking to for a second.

"That was a little impertinent, Asgardian. Watch your language. I won't harm you due to the peace treaty with Asgard, but my patience has it's limits."

"Please accept my apology, Your Majesty. My curiosity temporary overflowed my good manners." Yeah, like they say 'curiosity killed the cat, but... satisfaction brought it back'.

He hoped the peace treaty will spare his head.

"Apologies accepted. Now, because I have a good day and you are the first visitor from Asgard in a few centuries, I'll answer both questions. Firstly, I do not know anything about her whereabouts. She doesn't trust anyone with it. Secondly, why am I sure? She is my daughter's best friend! She visits Jotunheim now and then, to exchange news and stories. I don't know much about her, but from what I gathered, it's more than anyone does, especially you. I'll give you one word of advice. You won't find her if she doesn't want to be found."

Loki was shocked for a moment. An old enemy of Asgard, a person no one can find, is the best friend of the young daughter of Laufey. He quickly gathered himself.

"I'm really sorry for overusing your generosity, but if I may ask, what is her name?"

"She has lots of them, but her real one is the secret of the royal family. Now that you know everything you should, get off this planet." 

Loki, sensing the change in Laufey's mood, said his farewells and was escorted back to the gate. 

"Heimdall, take me back!" And he vanished.

Loki barely noticed Heimdall's curious gaze, too engrossed in his thoughts. He knew that Laufey wasn't lying, he knew when people did. What the problem was, the part of the impossibility of finding her was true too. He suspected that earlier, but now he knew for sure. Still, he couldn't give up now. At least he knew 'it' was in fact a woman, because Laufey used female pronouns. So, what he knew was that she was a remarkably powerful sorceress that could create ice and shield herself from Odin (if she couldn't, they'd find her already).Great Valhalla, it sounded like a story to scare children! Mother used to tell him about somebody similar when he was small. The great Is Dronning, the Ice Queen. A ruthless warrior, cold-blooded killer, the greatest enemy of Asgard, Fate in human form, never seen, never found. But could someone like that be Laufey's daughter best friend? Yet, Frigga always told him that in every tale there is a kernel of truth. If it is true, though, if he really is searching for the legendary Is Dronning, then he really had to brace himself for a not really pleasant meeting.

There was one thing Loki didn't know. Sometimes it isn't only a kernel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feelings?


	4. my smile still stays on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WE'RE SOOO CLOOOSEEEEEEE

>  " _INSIDE MY HEART IS BREAKING (...) BUT MY SMILE STILL STAYS ON_ " ~ QUEEN "THE SHOW MUST GO ON"

"Could you refrain from pacing, Silver Tongue?" Asked Heimdall. Since Loki came back from Jotunheim, which was ten minutes ago, he did nothing, but paced around the Bifrost with an absolutely blank expression and said nothing, which was a bit odd, because he was the one to talk very much. Hearing his voice, the younger prince snapped out of his trance and turned to Heimdall. All he said was:

"Vanaheim." And he vanished in a ray of colourful light.

***

When Loki landed in a pine forest, he promptly transformed himself into his cat form. He wanted to avoid being seen, because he had a hunch that something important to his case may be in this realm. Using his above average hearing and just a little bit of magic, he located the nearest city. The forest was dark, but he didn't mind it. He walked hours and hours before he reached his destination. The city was located on a small mountain, which was a wise choice from a strategic point of view. If attacked, the citizens would notice every move in the trees from the giant wall surrounding the city. Currently, an equally huge gate was open and lots of people entered. While the whole architecture looked like pulled straight out of a war in Midgardian Middle Ages, Vanaheim was currently a peaceful realm. Weaving between the legs of the Vanir, Loki slowly made his way to the main square, since a great part of the crowd was heading right there. When he manage to get to the middle, he guessed why. There stood quite a big stage. And on the stage, surrounded by the growing crowd, a beautiful woman was singing. She had wavy brown hair and caramel skin. Dressed in a grey tulle dress, she looked like one of the finest dames of Asgard. Most of the men, looked at her in adoration and equally lots of women with envy. Wives hit their husbands with their elbows and they looked at them apologetically before continuing to stare. Loki however, sensed something odd about her. He could tell if someone was lying and he felt that she didn't look like that usually. It wasn't an illusion, though. Their were easier to sense than this. Maybe she was a shapeshifter? He would have to touch her to know for sure. But how? And why? Somehow he knew it was important.

After a while he came up with a plan. He quickly moved to the end of the crowd and slipped in a dark street. He switched his form to his Aesir one and then he changed a few things. His eyes were hazel and more slanted then usually, to imitate Vanir. His hair was longer and dark brown. He was a bit more muscular and had a bit more tanned skin. Time to continue with his plan. Thank Vallhalla he could sing. He retreated to the square and started pushing through the crowd. The singer was just finishing her song and was about to start another one. Once she sang the first few words, he immidiately knew what song it was. 

 _Empty spaces, what are we living for?_  
_Abandoned places, guess we know the score_  
_On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for?_

"The Show Must Go On" by a midgardian band called Queen was a beautiful song. Maybe it was a rather odd realm but the music was fantastic. Fortunately, he knew all the words. Before she could start the next verse, he already started climbing the stage, joining in.

 _Another hero, another mindless crime_  
_Behind the curtain, in the pantomime_  
_Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore_  
  
She looked slightly surprised at first, but she quickly masked it with a smile. What a perfect actress. It looked like it was planned, letting him sing this verse and joined for the chorus.

 _The show must go on_  
_The show must go on, yeah_  
_Inside my heart is breaking_  
_My makeup may be flaking_  
_But my smile still stays on_  
  
They sang it with such emotion, that some people shed a tear. Loki knew he couldn't touch her now, because all his illusions will disappear within a second of contact. So he sang along her, verse by verse, chorus by chorus, until the very end.

 _The show must go on_  
_The show must go on_  
_I'll face it with a grin_  
_I'm never giving in_  
_On with the show_  
  
He reached for her hand and she needed to copy his movements, to look like it was planned. When their hands where just inches apart, a wind appeared around them and, suddenly, Loki felt it. He felt the same magic as on Svartalheim. He quickly needed to get over his shock, because the singer or rather "the powerful magical being" started to disappear quickly. He only made it on time to catch a tip of her dress before the darkness engulfed him along with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FEELINGS?


	5. the world is a restless place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LOKI MEETS SOMEONE NEW

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya bitches!  
> MYYYYY OOOOOOCCCCCCCC IS HEEEREEEE  
> DAMN YOU AUTOCORRECT  
> This is actually one of my fav chapters

 

 

 

> " _WELL I WOKE UP TODAY AND THE WORLD WAS A RESTLESS PLACE_ " ~ SONG FOR TEN BY MURRAY GOLD & NEIL HANNON

At first, he didn't even care what happened, where he was or who the bloody fuck was this woman, because he was throwing up behind a rock. What did she do? When he managed to stop, he heard an amused voice from behind him. 

"Yeah, that's normal after the first time." 

His dizzy head cleared a bit and shot up as quickly as it could without throwing up again. His eyes started scanning his surroundings. Ice, snow, ice, rocks, did he mentioned ice? He noticed that even though it was dark, the stars gave just the right amount of light to see clearly. Also he felt lots of _cold_ magical energy, similar to the one radiating from the woman standing behind him. Niflheim. Why didn't he think of it? He slowly got up from his knees and equally slowly turned around. The Vanaheim singer, still in her dress, was standing in the snow. 

"Who...are...you?" He rasped, his throat sore.

"Oh, I have many names but I think you already figured out one of them." She said in a light tone. 

He thought for a second. The only _trace_ of an idea he had was... Impossible! It was just a fairy tale, a story to scare small children!

"Impossible." He stated. She raised her eyebrow.

"Well, I feel quite possible." She stamped her foot. A wave of milky white ice shot out from the place it hit and started to spread quickly in every direction, creating a beautiful, ornamented platform under them, about twenty feet in diameter. His eyes went wide.

"Is Dronning... the Ice Queen..." He whispered in awe. 

"Outstanding! Fantastic!" She praised him slightly sarcastically. "That's one of my names. I have lots of them. Walking Death, Fate... Some call me Skadi, I never been married, though." Loki was speechless, a rare view. The woman continued to list her names. "I was also called Morana by the Slavic. The Reaper, too. My favourite one is Khione, though.

"Dare to say something? I know it might be a shock, but you kinda never shut up for so long!"

"Sorry for my temporary inconvenience. I'm back now." He sassed, his voice still a little croaky. "Would you be so nice and show me your real face?"

"You're rather good." Khione praised him, slightly impressed, though not surprised as he hoped she would be.

"I thought you knew, since you know so much about me." Loki snorted. He was starting to be geniuinely amused by this conversation, he noted with surprise. An effect of a long-time absence of someone sassing him back, probably.

Khione rolled her eyes. If only he knew. A dark fog started to swirl around her, closing her in an eye of her own little storm. The already low temperature dropped a couple degrees more and only a dramatic sweep of the wind would be needed to make it more dramatic. After a few seconds, a totally different woman walked out of it, a dark light beaming from her, never mind how much of a paradox it was. Loki's jaw dropped. The woman had shoulder-length, unruly, raven-black, wavy hair, half of it held back by a silver comb. Her skin was almost white, and her high cheekbones so sharp that it didn't look healthy. She had full, pink lips and the most incredible eyes he has ever seen. They shone like two moons, their glow iluminating her whole face and standing out from the dim surroundings. They had no pupil, but it didn't look creepy. It looked stunning. Khione was also very tall, almost as tall as him, and somehow muscular. Not in a weird way, but like a gymnast. She looked starved, though, he noticed with a pang of surprise. She also looked very young, approximately 20 midgardian years, though she was much, much older for sure. She wore a graphite grey armoured corset, embellished with silver leaves, and a black cape, ragged at the end. Her black leggins were made from a jeans-like material with a high waist and she was wearing black combat boots with metal tips. On her arms and knees there were pieces of black and silver armour that looked like they were made from scales of a large animal. What did she do, pluck Jormungand? They were carved in silver flames. She also wore black, wrist-length, leather gloves without fingers and black war paint that looked like she cried with black tears or her mascara got smeared in rain. He also noticed a thin chain on her neck but he didn't see what was attached to it. Loki fell silent for the second time in the last five minutes, which Khione thought was a millenial record, not counting sleeping, obviously. When Loki was putting himself together, Khione put out the light (darkness?) surrounding her. He cleared his throat and looked a little, tiny bit intimidated, but he quickly covered it up. 

"Sorry, I like to be a little dramatic sometimes... I hadn't so much fun for centuries!" Khione laughed. 

"Okay, now that I know how you look like, I'd like to get to the subject for why I'm here." Loki said more seriously, to cover up his faux paux. 

"Oh dear, I know exactly why are you here and you can tell Odin he won't get me even with all his army raiding my house." She said circling Loki like he was a piece of prey. The white ice she made earlier blackened as her feet hit the ground around him. As soon as her foot lost contact, it was white again.

"How... Okay, doesn't matter but why are you so sure? I'm not my father's army." He said sounding self-confident. It was a lie, though. Never during his life, he had met someone with such power radiating of them. He was really fighting to stay focused, not to be overwhelmed by the raw magic pumping through the air between them.

He looked slightly startled when he heard Khione laughing. 

"Oh, darling... I could have killed you a hundred times already!" He decided to keep his fake confident façade up, and maybe it wasn't entirely clever (it wasn't at all), because he knew Khione had an enormous advantage, but it gave him time.

"I don't think you realise, that I'm the most skilled magician on Asgard. You really underestimate me."

"Yeah, and I'm one of the maybe five most powerful beings in the universe. Don't make yourself sound stupid, 'cause you're not.. I'm older, better trained, you're on my ground, I know everything about what you can't and what you can. By the way, Asgard has really crappy teachers. Furthermore, you don't know anything about me except for the tiny bit of information from stories for children. Use your brain! I know you have it. You can't win."

Loki knew all the legends she was talking about, but he also knew that people usually enlarged what they actually saw and _those_ stories lived on for centuries. Still, he saw how powerful she was, he felt her power, even now. It was pulsing between them, clashing with his own magic and trying to suffocate him from all sides, fuelled by Niflheim. But he couldn't back off. He had to prove his Father wrong. Maybe he won't humiliate himself completely.

"You wanna bet?" He asked after a few seconds. Khione looked amused. Still not surprised, though.

"No... because its no fun to bet with someone, if you're a hundred percent sure you'll win." She said with a smile but her eyes glinted dangerously. 

"You're being overconfident." Loki commented, though he was a little less sure about the idea of fighting her. Not enough to back away, though. 

"We'll see."

Loki just wanted to make a sassy comment about her being unarmed (he had a reputation to maintain after all), but he didn't make it on time. Khione moved so fast that a regular person wouldn't register what she did. He, however, noticed her slapping a thin bracelet on her wrist which immediately expanded to a double scythe. It was silver and black, carved in flames and crystals and had a small, amethyst skull at the base of each blade . The blades were made of something that looked like ice, but he guessed it was far more deadly.

"Now, you know why they call me _the Reaper_." Khione said nonchalantly, swirling the deadly weapon around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMENTS ON KHIONE?


	6. land of the ice and snow (and magic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these are short i know sorry

> " _WE COME FROM THE LAND OF ICE AND SNOW_ " ~ IMMIGRANT SONG BY LED ZEPPELIN

Now, Loki was a tiny bit scared, but he didn't let her see it. He just sighed. This won't be a easy fight. To his advantage, his style of fighting was different from everybody's. He developed it by himself, training with his illusions. This way he created many moves that were unknown to normal people. Thanks Valhalla that the ice platform wasn't slippery. Somehow. He didn't even bother to think about it. It was Khione, after all. The freaking Is Dronning. At first, he created flying daggers, which soon filled the air around him. He looked at Khione. He couldn't read her expression clearly, but she looked somehow.... proud? That was impossible, he had to imagine it.  
  
\- Nice.... - she said emphasising the 'i'. Nice? How was that nice? Loki didn't understand her.  
  
Suddenly, she started walking towards the daggers, which he now moved in front of him to shield himself from an attack. Khione didn't look intimidated, casually continuing her walk to the daggers. Loki remembered what his Father said: " _bring but not kil_ l" so he focused on immobilising her, maybe putting her out. He was aware that his chances of success were almost nonexistent. He moved his hand and the daggers surrounded Khione in a circle, few feet in diameter. She stopped. And grinned. In this moment Loki started to seriously doubt that he made the right decision. Guess, he'll see in a moment. He waved his hand again and the daggers started to move really fast towards Khione. She was expecting it. When the daggers almost hit her, she did a somersault and landed gracefully outside the circle. Before the daggers turned back, she took off her hand two silver rings, carved in the shape of snakes, and threw at him. He automatically ducked and it saved him. Midair, the two rings transformed into black and silver chacrams, which started attacking him. While he tried to avoid being decapitated and to destroy the weapons, Khione turned around to the daggers. She started to spin the scythe really fast until you were unable to see the blades. When the daggers touched the spinning weapon they immediately became shredded to pieces. He only had time to think " _what the hell is that thing made from_ ", when a chacram almost cut his neck. Almost, because Khione summoned the weapons and transformed them back into rings. She did the same to the scythe.

"Done? Will you surrender?" She asked.

"Never." Loki answered, though his every instinct screamed otherwise. 

"Never say never." Khione said with a smirk and winked at him. He rolled his eyes. 

With a dramatic move, she reached over her arm with her hand and took a katana from a black, leather sheath under her cape, which he didn't notice at first. Then she did the same with a second katana. The weapons were carved in wind-like pattern, and were made from a silver metal, maybe steel. Probably not. White strings were tied at the end of the hilts, ends swishing as the blades cut through air. 

"Do you surrender now?"

"Still no." He said in a sing-songy way. 

"Well, aren't you a stubborn one." She smirked again. Was it normal to enjoy a sassy conversation so much when he was about to get killed? _Probably not_ , he thought, amusement colouring his thoughts.

He closed his eyes and focused. At once, between his hands a black and green odachi appeared.

"Japanese? Who would have thought." Khione commented, faking surprise. She knew almost everything about his abilities and preferences. 

Loki moved first. Khione expected it. The fight went on for just about a minute. Cut, block, cut, hit with the hilt. Ribbons swishing through the air. The sorceress seemed to know what his move would be seconds before it was even started and blocked him, and attacked him, without a single touch to his skin. At the end, he ended up with an incredibly sharp blade almost pressed against his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feels?


	7. hypocrites

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That shit needed maaaaaany re-reads  
> Really  
> I don’t believe i even wrote the thing that was the unedited version  
> It was catastrophic  
> (I hope 12 am counts as Sunday)  
> EDIT: wait... it’s Saturday... im ashamed (a slight sleep deprivation does that to a person)

 

 

> “ _HYPOCRITES, YOU’RE ALL HERE FOR THE VERY SAME REASON” ~_ BREATHE (2 AM) BY ANNA NALICK

But Khione didn’t kill him. She didn’t even touch him during all that fight. She stepped away, sheathing her weapons. He looked at her surprised.

“Why didn’t you...” He didn’t even finish the sentence.

“Now. Are you please done with the whole ‘I’m-gonna-fight-you-though-I-can’t-win’ façade?”

She sounded tired. It kind of irked Loki’s senses, as if she was not supposed to know exhaustion. But she did. And it felt unnatural. Wrong. But why?

He nodded, answering the question.

“Yeah, certainly, but why didn’t you? ‘Cause I know it isn’t cause I have to tell Odin that you’re powerful and et cetera. You could have done it by sending him my head.”

He was curious why she spared him. She didn’t seem surprised at his questions, again... more like proud. And also sad a bit. She was hard to read. He couldn’t understand.

“And you won’t for a while.”

She was a telepath?

“Yes, I am. And you are far more powerful than you think, Loki. You just aren’t trained well enough. Frigga may be the best sorceress on Asgard, but your power is excessively greater than she could ever dream of.”

She turned her back to him, watching the great white mountains instead. He was even more confused than before. He didn’t feel as powerful. Khione must have heard his thoughts, ‘cause she turned around once again.

“Loki, dear, your pure magic is stronger than Odin’s!” She almost spat out the hated name. “You couldn’t have overpowered him right now, because of the lack of training, but when you learn, you will be one of the most powerful beings in the universe!”

Loki made a few steps back from shock. He knew she didn’t lie. She really believed that. The  _Is Dronning_ believed that. Wow.

“Then teach me.” He said on impulse. Khione smiled mysteriously, but he could see sadness and grief behind that smile, no happiness. 

“I can’t. Not now. You must discover your true self, before I start teaching you anything, because it can have terrible consequences. And I’m sorry, I truly am, but I can’t do it for you. But know this: when you do find yourself, I will be waiting, I will come for you.” She sounded depressingly sad. He started to fear for his future.

“Do you know the future?” He asked, a bit anxious. Khione shook her head.

“No, I don’t. Nobody knows. I only know the past and the present, but that is all I need.”

“Need for what? “ He asked. He hated when he couldn’t understand. Khione just once again gave him this sad, mysterious smile. They stood in silence for a few minutes, it looked like the sorceress was debating on something in her mind. Then, she decided to say something.

“I can’t tell you exactly what I know, for it may alter the future, but I can give you a clue of what I found out.  Unfortunately for both of us I have to make up a way not to use any exact words, it can’t be a direct information.”

Loki wondered why, but guessed that she wouldn’t tell him anyway. Khione started pacing in frustration, probaby trying to think of something as simple as it could be. It went on for a few minutes, the woman muttering under her breath. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to him, her face once again heavy with that terrible exhausted expression.

”A threat is near. An old threat, bound by something that will be broken involuntarily. But this one action will change the universe, put in motion events so huge that no one can imagine them. And there will be a victim of the fight. An innocent victim that can’t be spared for they play a role so important that the stability of the universe depends on it. But it will almost break them. The victim will be a hero, though, to the ones that know the truth. Crowds will judge, but force isn’t the only way to do things. There is a much more effective one, though it requires great strength. The most unlikely will save the day, but the cost will be terrible. The Dark Age comes.”

She finished her terrifying speech. She looked so immensely tired and sad and done. Loki was stunned. He memorised the lines, not trying to understand them now, but concentrating on the woman, who regained her cold but sad demeanour. It helped. Getting his mind to move on, not dwell. He felt something off about her, but it was small enough for him to think it was because the lines were hiding the truth.

Khione sighed.

“Unfortunately, that’s all I can do. You must do this part on your own, but once it’s done, I’ll help you. I already know everything. About you, that is. Still, I can’t explain it now. You need to go know, but take this little piece of advice. Odin is a liar and a damn dick.”

Loki and Khione smirked in unison. The prince bowed and the sorceress snorted.

“I will take you to Vanaheim again, don’t retch this time please. From there, you will go back to Asgard and without saying any detail about me, with any I mean my powers, what I look like, anything, you will say that you found my home abandoned, with signes of fight inside. It will exclude any idea that you’re incompetent. Tell Odin that you traced my magic, but the trail ended at my base again. No spell can trick the energy tracing one, you know that. You should be relatively okay like this. But remember, kinda my life depends on how good you are at lying and I really don’t want to mess with your mind. That should be all. And remember what I told you. Odin is a dick and you are exceptionally powerful. Gods, that should be my motto. Anyway, let’s take you to Vanaheim.” She finished a bit too cheerily.

Loki nodded to tell her that he memorised all of the info. She nodded back and grabbed his shoulder. Then, they vanished.


	8. so accusing their eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A very quick summary of the first Thor movie. It will be shown in flashes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn i wrote it like five times cause I constantly forgot to save it

> “ _AND WE WALK THROUGH THE DOOR, SO ACCUSING THEIR EYES” ~_ BREATHE (2 AM) BY ANNA NALICK

He was a Frost Giant. A damn Frost Giant. All his questions were answered. Just not in the way he wanted. 

“ _So I am no more than a stolen relic, locked up in here until you might have use of me.”_

_You have to discover who you really are._

_“Because I am the monster parents tell their children about at night?”_

_I’ll be waiting. And I’m so, so sorry. Victim. And there will be a victim. An innocent victim._ Khione’s words were the only coherent thought in his mind.  _A victim. Victim. Victim._ She looked so sad then. Now he knew why.  _Why didn’t you touch me? I mean, you never even lay a finger directly on me since we met._ Her expression then... he has never seen a smile so sad. Her eyes looked older than the universe itself.  _My skin is so cold that I burn almost any creature that’s alive. Like Jotuns, I destroy everything I touch._ She told him on Vanaheim. Half-truth. Maybe her touch burned. Maybe it was lethal. But not to him. He would just turn that damn despising blue.

•••

_A threat is near. Force isn’t the only way to do things. There is a much more effective one, though it requires great strength. I’m sorry._ Thor was banished. Odin in a coma. Brilliant, Khione, brilliant. Thanks for a  _very_ detailed description of what will happen.  _A Dark Age comes. The victim will be a hero._ He knew what he had to do, but... it was hard. He could almost hear Khione say “I know. I’m so sorry.”

•••

”My first command cannot to be undo the Allfather’s last.” 

True. He really couldn’t lift Thor’s banishment. Honestly, though, he wouldn’t even if he could. Not before the war was over. The war which his brother started. And which Loki had a plan to end.

•••

  _“_ And bring Jotunheim back to all its... glory.”

He was talking to his birth father, who didn’t know he was his father. That was... strange is an understatement. He had a really hard time trying to maintain eye contact. And trying not to cast a particularly painful spell. Or punch him in the face (he immediately dropped that thought, though. It was too Thor-like). It was a horrible feeling. That man was his father. That man left him to die. That man left him to Odin’s mercy. And Loki was fake plotting with him. “Crowds will judge” indeed. He hoped he could pull it off.

 •••

He killed him. Laufey was dead. But he didn’t feel the satisfaction he had hoped for. He just felt… empty. Broken. How the hell did Khione found out what will happen without knowing the future? Loki sighed as the thought crossed his mind. She was a living paradox. And every word she said was true. He smirked. Another plan started to form, fueled by his rage. She said he was broken? Well, then what’s the point in arguing? He had nothing to lose. The term ‘victim’ no longer applied, though. He was a monster now.

•••

”No, Loki.”

He was falling. He didn’t destroy Jotunheim. He fought his brother. He let go. He thought of Khione’s sad eyes. He was curious of her. He didn’t blame her. She did what she could. He wondered what that bastard that called himself his father had done to her. What would she be able to teach him? Nothing, now. He was dying. He was hearing things. That was death? A strange choice of words. Or maybe not.

”I’ll fucking kill that bloody bastard.”


	9. let’s raise a glass or two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Khione and Loki talk.  
> Warning: chick flick moment (basically the whole chapter) and swearing (Khione)  
> EDITTT: I DECIDED THAT KHIONE WOULDN'T BE SO FORWARD EVEN WITH LOKI SO SRY TO THESE OF U THAT GOT A SPOILER TO HER BACKSTORY

 

 

>  “ _LET’S RAISE A GLASS OR TWO (TO ALL THE THINGS I’VE LOST ON YOU)” ~_ LOST ON YOU BY LP

“What the actual fuck?” He heard an angry voice. He was laying on something soft. And his head hurt. He tried moving his fingers. Worked, but slowly. He wasn’t dead?

“Loki. One more time, from the bottom of my cold heart, why the fuck did you do that?”

Ah.

Yeah, he wasn’t dead. Khione.

He groaned as he tried to open his eyes. He decided to let them stay closed. He knew Khione for like a couple of hours, she apparently knew him longer, but he kind of trusted her. They were both monsters.

”I love you too, Khione.” He sassed, but his voice was still weak. He heard her sigh. 

“Answer the question.”

It was his turn to sigh. He opened his eyes more easily this time. He was in a room. The walls were light grey and there was a lot of bookshelves on two of them, the third one on the other side of the room was filled by a large window. He was covered with a grey fluffy blanket that surprisingly didn’t heat him up too much. He wondered what material was it made of. Weak light of a rising sun was leaking through the slightly open curtains. Khione was sitting on the windowsill pillows and glaring at him. She dropped her battle armour and war paint and was dressed in a dark grey loose sleeveless top with six golden wings and a pentagram print and black sweatpants. Her hair fell around her face in a mess (definitely not on purpose, she probably forgot about it). She looked... different. Still tired and half-starved, though. He pushed himself up slowly. Khione didn’t move to help him and he was grateful for that. He was uncomfortable in his skin. Knowing the truth kind of broke him.

”Well, maybe because I’m a monster?” He asked ironically. Khione’s expression softened a bit.

”You’re not.” She said with conviction. He felt a pang of anger and concentrated on the cold feeling within his soul. He could feel his skin changing colour.

”Really?” He sassed. Khione didn’t even blink. His skin returned to normal. Or the Asgardian one. He didn’t know what was normal at this point.

”No, Loki, you’re not a monster. You are a victim of the universe’s cruelty. I already knew about your heritage for about a thousand years.” She stood up and went to sit on his bed. Loki wasn’t very convinced. “You know, it’s not your fault. None of it. Odin is just... cruel. And you’re not his first victim.” She said the last sentence looking at her hands. Loki instinctively reached out to grab her shoulder reassuringly, but he stopped a few inches from her and looked at his hand. Khione looked up in understanding, but her gaze dropped again. “I'm not sure that I should tell you this today. You had your fair share of problems. I don’t know if you are ready to hear it now.” She said quietly. He scoffed halfheartedly. 

“I won’t ever be more ready. Spill.” Khione laughed dryly.

”Well, it’s on you how you take it."

He nodded. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. She lay down next to Loki (well like a foot and a half away from him, it was a large bed). He remained seated.

“Odin wasn’t always the peacemaker he is now. He was driven by ruthless ambition to conquer. The fucking war was a bloodbath. He murdered millions. But... he wasn’t alone. You have an older sister, Loki. Odin’s firstborn.”

She fell silent for him to adjust to the news. When he whispered “okay”, she continued.

“Her name was Hela. She was the Goddess of Death. She was born during Odin’s quest to be the King of the Realms. From childhood she was infected by his bloodthirsty ambitions. He made her his Executor. But, one day, Odin found the Space Stone. The Tesseract, one of the Infinity Stones. It showed him what the path he was on will lead to. He freaked. He cast Hela into Hel (with one ‘l’) and covered up all the traces of the blood he spilled. He married Frigga and had Thor, soon adopted you. But that’s not the end. Odin decided that he’ll hunt down all monsters that can endanger his position.”

She was silent for a couple of moments, wondering what to say. Loki gave her time. Yes, it was weird to see Is Dronning talk like that, but she obviously went through some shit in her life. She started again.

"Long story short, about a eleven hundred years ago he caught me, decided that I was too powerful to kill and locked me up. After a while, he got me chains that blocked a part of my powers. I broke out after a hundred years but the chains stayed."

Loki was making rapid connections in his mind. He grew paler and paler. Khione was silent for a couple of minutes. Finally, she looked up to see a slightly shaken God of Mischief. She closed her eyes with resignation.

"Of course." She sighed.

That seemed to snap Loki out of his shock. He looked at her sadly.

"Show me." He said quietly.

Khione sat up and was almost standing up, when Loki's hand pulled her down. She flinched and the hand immediately dropped. But she stayed seated. She looked at him, sorrow in her moony eyes (how eyes without a pupil could be so expressive he had no idea).

"I knew from the moment I felt your magic signature. But even you can't help."

His face showed grim determination.

"Damn right, I can."

Khione sighed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. On her forearms, two shackles appeared, about half a foot long. The chains attached to them looked ripped through. Loki's face darkened in anger.

"He told me they were for a  _great and dangerous enemy of Asgard._ That the Realms were in danger. And turns out that  _you_ were the one who never lied to me." 

Taking advantage of Khione's surprise at his words, Loki put his hands on the shackles and closed his eyes. He always left a way out in the cursed objects he made. He concentrated on finding the hole. Aaaaand... there it was. He poured his power into it and the irons burst open. He opened his eyes and straightened with pride. Is Dronning looked at her forearms with shock. Finally free.

"So long..." She whispered. 

She turned to Loki.

And hugged him tightly.

"Thank you." She whispered again.

 


	10. we won’t fall into the cracks beneath our feet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya bitches, yeah i know i was a bit missing but itll be better now. hopefully. Anyway, how do you like the chapter? I dont. It just fulls up space for the next one.

> “ _BROKEN WE AIN’T BEATEN, THERE’S NO GLORY IN DEFEAT” ~_ “BROKEN PEOPLE” BY LOGIC AND RAG’N’BONE MAN

“Ekhem... thanks.” She cleared her throat awkwardly as she stood up from the bed.

Loki chuckled and followed her as she walked out of the room. Khione raised her eyebrow at him. 

“Bored, are we?”

”Well, I guess I could ask for a sightseeing tour? We’re on Niflheim, right?”

She rolled her eyes. 

“Yes.”

They entered a large room, which was something between a library and a living room. He also noticed an open kitchen attached to it. There were mattresses, sofas and armchairs everywhere, with multiple books laying on them. One of the walls was almost entirely a window, looking out on a beautiful valley made from ice. 

"And this is my kingdom. This room is the main one, you'll find here books from all around the universe, sofas, bean bags-" she kicked one of them, and Loki rolled his eyes. Then he scolded himself internally. He literally knew nothing about Khione. The Ice Queen continued, " and there's the kitchen." She pointed in one direction and then turned around in a completely different one and pointed at one of the doors in the walls. It was big and silver, what he supposed was one of Khione's favourite colours. "There is the training room, we'll spend quite a lot of time there, you have a lot to catch up." 

Loki frowned slightly. She was going to teach him?

Khione rolled her eyes.

"Of course, you dumb-o. I promised, didn't I? I never break my promises." 

Oh, he forgot she was a telepath.

"Could you please stop reading my mind?"

Khione looked away from his emerald eyes.

"Actually... I can't. It's automatic, I can't turn it off. But I promise you, the first thing I'll teach you is to shield yourself.”

Loki shrugged. 

“Okay.”

Khione looked at him again and grinned. It reminded him a but of a wolf. 

“So, back to sightseeing?”

He smirked. 

“Always.” 

•••

She showed him the training room, a second library, a library that had every spell ever known (he fanboyed a bit but wouldn’t ever admit it), his room, the Astronomy Tower and now they went outside, because she claimed to leave “the best for the last”. They took a narrow path through a forest that was covered in snow so completely that there was no splash of green in sight. Thank Saints that this part of the Realm had an eternal night or they’d might have gone blind. 

Finally, Khione stopped. Loki looked around, but didn’t see anything. They were still in the white forest. He frowned and felt something tickling his senses. Wards? Khione looked at him and smirked. 

“Yep. You’re the only person beside me who had and will ever see what’s behind them.”

Dramatic much?

She closed her eyes and straightened her arms. It looked as if she was touching an invisible wall before them. Her brows furrowed in concentration. At first nothing happened, but then, slowly, a few weak violet light tendrils started to get out of the sorceress’ hands and began trailing... sigils? Yeah, sigils and warding symbols. Loki noticed that they were forming a dome. Khione’s frown deepened. 

_How powerful these wards have to be to be a problem for a person who put them there in the first place?_ The young god wondered in awe.

The Ice Queen smirked weakly and pushed her hands apart, creating a portal going through the dome. She stumbled a bit and Loki grabbed her arm to steady her, but quickly moved his hand away and looked at it with a bit of disgust. Khione, though panting a bit, noticed the look right away and shot him a worried glance. He ignored it and she acknowledged it and straightened herself. 

“This, honey, is the Last Sanctuary.”

They stepped through the portal. 

•••

Loki couldn’t believe his eyes. The dome was actually a little pocket dimension, about ten kilometres in radius. And full of dragons. FUCKING DRAGONS. Yes, THESE dragons, the extinct species from Alfheim. What the fuck? He slowly turned to look at Khione. 

“What the actual fuck?”

She started laughing. And laughing. Loki stared at her in confusion as she giggled. 

“Oh, you should have seen your face!”

Loki crossed his arms. She calmed down slowly. 

“Yes, these are dragons. And other small species for them to pray on. Yes, they are technically extinct, these are the last ones. Yes, it was almost impossible to find them, yes, that’s why the place is so warded, yes, it’s a pocket dimension, yes, making this portal took so long ‘cause you had to go through too, yes, you can go to them just let them get used to you.”

Loki stared with eyes wide open. His brain was a bit shocked, because he only registered the last sentence after a good few seconds. 

“I can... go to them?”

Khione raised her eyebrow. 

“Well, yes? That’s what I said. They don’t get much company these days.”

He scoffed but immediately proceeded to walk among the majestic creatures, many of which ran or flied up to them to see the new guy and were currently sniffing him. There were a lot of dragons, different types and colours, which Khione was explaining to him while petting her magical friends.

“There are five main types of dragons, each for an element. Fire, water, air, earth and light. But, as the species evolved, many... sub-types were created. Dragons of darkness, ice, hurricanes, lava and others. Dragons can control their element on a fundamental level - to attack, to defend and to build...”

They walked around the pocket dimension as long as Loki could, but soon Khione stated that it’s getting late and even if they’re actual gods they have a busy day tomorrow, and they can’t be sleepy. Loki wondered a bit at how did she figure out the time but dropped the question as it only brought him a headache. They left the dimension, closed the portal behind them and went back to the manor. 


	11. beauty lies behind the hills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> loki gets to know one of Khione’s secrets and it can affect the whole universe structure

>  “ _RUN BOY RUN, THIS RIDE IS A JOURNEY TOO, RUN BOY RUN, THE SECRET INSIDE OF YOU” ~_ “RUN BOY RUN” BY WOODKID

Loki groaned as bright light hit his face. He hadn’t got much sleep last night. Nightmares. He slowly pushed himself up and swung his legs through the edge of the bed. He rubbed his forehead. The dream was slowly fading out of his memory, but he remembered enough. The feeling of desperation and betrayal. Thor’s face, then Odin’s, then somehow merging with the features of his biological father.  _You will never be good enough. You will never be accepted._ The overwhelming colours of the rainbow bridge, pressing on him and suffocating him as he listened to the screams of Jotuns he killed. Khione’s voice saying ‘monster’.

Loki shook his head and sighed. He looked around the room. It was black and green and except for the colours it looked almost exactly like the one he woke up in... yesterday? Probably. Hard to keep track of time when day doesn’t exist. He frowned. But if day doesn’t exist, then where the Hel did that light came from? He squinted his eyes and looked through the window. Khione’s magic, of course. She had to enchant them so that they actually gave some light. 

•••

Khione was sitting in the kitchen and eating a sandwich when Loki came in. She grinned with her wolfish grin at him.

”Ready for the first day of training?” she asked. 

He rolled his eyes.

”I was born ready,” he answered cheekily and went to the fridge to make something to eat for himself. One second he was reaching for the door of the refrigerator and the second he was falling to the floor whith an undignified shriek.

”What in sweet Valhalla?!” he exclaimed as a big black and white  _thing_ pressed him to the wooden floor. Khione almost fell of the chair in laughter. 

“Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you. This is Skøll and Hati.”

Loki managed to take a good look at the creature, which actually was two creatures. Two giant  _wolves_ , one black and one white. They were sitting on him with a content look on their wolf faces. 

“Anything else you forgot to tell me about?” he rasped from under the animals who were currently flattening his chest. Khione chuckled.

”Not that I can think of.” She cluck her tongue. “Skøll, Hati, leave Loki be, he needs to eat.” 

The black wolf gave him a farewell lick on the nose and then both animals jumped off him and ran away somewhere. Loki slowly got up too.

”Which one is which?”

Khione took a bite of her sandwich.

”Hati is white, and his sister Skøll is the black one. They are the kids of Fenrir, Hela’s wolf.”

Loki finally got to open the fridge. He took some eggs out.

”What, are you taking in every weird stray animal of the galaxy?” he asked.

Khione rolled her eyes.

”Hey, their father was dead and Hela in Hel so I took them in, don’t judge.”

•••

They were standing in the training room, dressed in sweatpants and t-shirts in their trademark colours - black and white and black and green. The training room was a large place, divided into four sections. One, lined with mattresses, for hand to hand combat, one with a platform for magical duels, one with knives, swords and generally weapons with blades. The last part was weird though. It was a warded cube, about four meters in height, weidth and depth. And white. The part that was touching the walls was completely white and empty, no swords, no mattresses. Just an empty white and warded cube. He obviously wondered what’s it for. They were standing in the hand to hand combat part. 

”Okay, so as I know exactly what you can do...”

Loki cut Khione off.

”Yeah, and that’s the thing that interests me. How?”

She smirked. He noticed that she still had that chain around her neck and he still couldn’t see what was attached to it.

”Good point. Once I figured out that it was you who made my chains, I kept tabs on you and your power, because no ordinary mage could have made something that I couldn’t destroy. Turns out I was right. I watched you learn about magic and use it in fight, and I’m sorry about the judgemental assholes you had to meet on the way. I helped you when you created your illusions to fight with, and may have altered their moves a bit so that you were more effective. That’s why you couldn’t beat me, because it was kind of me who taught you.”

Loki took two steps back.

”Woah. I basically had private lessons from the Is Dronning and I didn’t even know.”

Khione rolled her eyes. 

“Anyway, there’s still a lot you got to learn. As I said when we first met, well, when you first met me, you are just as powerful as me, more than Frigga, more than Odin, more than Thor. Even more than Hela, the Goddess of Death. But, you aren’t trained. We will spent the first few weeks practicing your hand to hand combat skills and spells that are practical in a fight. Not just conjuring daggers. I mean more like super speed, agility and shooting ice from your hands.”

•••

Three weeks passed. They had a simple routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, train combat, break to do whatever, then combat outside, lunch, spells practice, spend time with the dragons, time to do whatever and then dinner. Some days Loki could hear faint violin music from the Astronomy Tower during the night. They didn’t speak about it. He liked to spend time there too, when the nightmares that plagued him every night kept him awake. He looked at the foreign stars, tracing constellations in his mind.

One day, it had all changed. It was a normal combat practice at the training room. But, suddenly, Khione collapsed. He didn’t even do anything, he was six feet from her when it happened. But it did. She suddenly collapsed to her knees and pressed her plams to her chest. No, not to her chest. To the chain on her neck, to the thing that was attached to it. He tried to touch her, to ask her what happened, but she only pushed him away. Her head snapped back, her beautiful eyes started glowing ten times stronger. The silver light also got out from beneath her hands.

She started screaming.

Loki tried to help her, but it seemed she put up some sort of a barrier, because he couldn’t come closer. He looked, helpless. He growed to care for her during these three weeks, she was his best friend. A friend he never had. She already knew the bad things about him and she didn’t judge him. And now she was screaming in pain and he didn’t know what to do for the first time since she took him here.

 


	12. the darkness leads us into the light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki finally gets to know what the chain thing is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The universe explained  
> EDIT i srlsly left “FOTEL” here cos i forgot how armchair is called? Im ashamed

> “ _LET THE DARKNESS LEAD US INTO THE LIGHT”_ ~ “IGNITE” by K391 (and a couple of other people who I don’t remember)

The attack lasted a few minutes, and Loki was sure he tore every hair out of his head from helplessness. 

Then, it stopped as suddenly as it began. Khione dropped unconscious. Loki quickly moved her to one of the sofas in the sitting room.  _What the hell was that?_

He made himself a drink. Sobriety was overrated in times like that. 

Khione was out cold for almost an hour. She groaned. 

“Well, that was worse than the last one. How long was I unconscious?”

”An hour,” Loki said coldly. She looked at him, turning her head slowly. He was leaning on the kitchen table and his arms were crossed. He looked pissed. 

“Don’t look at me like that. The last time something like that happened was over... ten years ago? How was I supposed to know that it’ll happen today or even in this century?” She tried to sit up and groaned as her a wave of pain shot through her head. Loki didn’t move to help. 

“You could tell me that it was a possibility. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

Khione tried to shake her head, but winced at the pain. 

“Nothing. There was nothing you could do. It just sometimes... happens.”

Loki sighed. 

“And care to explain what it was?”

It was Khione’s turn to sigh. She rubbed her forehead. 

“Sit down.”

Loki looked at her for a while but complied and collapsed on an armchair opposite to her. 

“Talk.”

”Do you know what Infinity Stones are?”

”The most powerful artefacts in the universe. Each of them manipulates one part of the universe’s structure,” said Loki. 

Khione smirked. 

“And how many there are?”

Loki hesitated. 

“Six.”

”Nope. Seven.”

”Seven?”

”Yes. But let me start from the beginning. First, billions of years ago, there was nothing. Then, in a spontaneous event one being was created. Only one. Her name was Nemesis and she chose it for herself. Nemesis was the first being, the first matter. She was reality, time, soul, mind, power and space. But she was getting bored. She caused another spontaneous event - the creation of the universe. Her creation started to evolve in a random direction. It wasn’t what Nemesis wanted. So she changed things. And with every change, with every altering of reality, she created another universe. But she still wasn’t satisfied. At last, one of her realities started to expand and evolve more rapidly than the others. It was the original one. She couldn’t control it, but she tried anyway. The action broke her into pieces. The Infinity Stones. Power, Space, Time, Mind, Soul and Reality. They scattered across the First Universe. But there is one Stone that nobody remembers. It doesn’t control any part of universe’s structure. It contains the consciousness of Nemesis. It is the linking part of the Stones, it has a bond with every single one. The Ego Stone.” 

Khione pulled at the chain around her neck. There was a black locket in the shape of an anatomically correct human heart attached to it. She moved her hand over it and it slowly opened. The room was lit up white again, but it slowly faded. Inside the heart was a crystal. It was still glowing softly with a white colour. Loki looked at it, completely mesmerised. It was the consciousness of the first being in reality, locked in a pebble with maybe an inch in diameter. Khione continued. 

“In her language, Ego means “heart”, hence the locket.” She closed it and hid it again under her t-shirt. Then, she rubbed her forehead and sighed. “This is the part where I have to tell you about myself. I’ll start with history. Many years ago, there was a powerful anomaly that shook the universe’s balance. I searched for long for what could have caused it, but I found nothing. It was like an earthquake without an epicentre, it affected every realm in our reality at different times. It caused massive gravitational fluctuations on Midgard, death of dragons on Alfheim, the first great war with Jotunheim and the Phoenix’s death, the war with the dark elves, the rise of Surtur, Titan’s destruction, civil war on Vanaheim, creation of the portals on Sakkar, even Hela’s madness and her imprisonment and the death of Valkyries were caused by it. I was too. A thousand and five hundred years ago, the wave hit Niflheim and created me from the magic. The Heart of Nemesis chose me as its protector a few hundred years later, after I escaped from Odin. Since then, it sometimes gives me visions about the most important events in the First Universe. The Ego Stone shows me glimpses of the past, the present and the future and fixed points in time if they exist. Remember how I couldn’t tell you what will happen directly? It was a fixed point. You had to figure it out by yourself. Fortunately, riddles and half-truths work as a loophole. I tried to defy a fixed point once, it didn’t end well. I almost destroyed a whole solar system and screamed in pain for a few days. But, you ask me what happened today. Well, that is exactly what happened. That little fucker gave me another vision. It covers almost twenty years into the future.” She put her head in her hands. “And it doesn’t look fucking good.”

Loki exhaled slowly. That was a lot to take in. 

“What do you mean by ‘it doesn’t look good’?” he asked after a minute. 

Khione just sighed and slowly stood up, hissing in pain as the movement disturbed her aching head. 

“It means that we have to go for help.”

•••

”Midgard? Why Midgard?” asked Loki. 

“Because there live two of the most intelligent people that I have ever met. Fortunately, they’re flatmates finally so we’re going to have it easier. What, you have something for Midgard?” asked Khione, while they were standing in front of the front door, the Ice Queen gathering strength for a space jump. They changed into Midgardian clothes, Khione wearing black ripped boyfriend jeans and a grey jumper and Loki dressed in black suit trousers, a white shirt and a grey overcoat. They both had their hair tied into low buns what Khione didn’t fail to tease him about. 

“You know I don’t. I’m just wondering.”

Khione rolled her eyes. 

“Okay, I’m ready. Baker Street 221b, here we come.”

And they vanished. 

•••

Sherlock didn’t even flinch in surprise when two gods appeared in his living room. Well, one god and one unconscious goddess. 

“Lauren, Khione is here!” the consulting detective shouted. Loki looked at the limp body of the ice goddess laying on the floor. 

“How many fucking times a day can a person faint?” he complained and put her on the sofa. A door slammed upstairs and they could hear rapid footsteps runing down the stairs. A few seconds later, an average-sized brunette with very messy brown wavy hair with teal ends, dressed in black leggins and an oversized black hoodie, ran into the living room. 

“Khione, I was in the middle of a spell, couldn’t you- what the hell happened to her!?” Lauren exclaimed. Loki rolled his eyes. 

“Well, to summarise: she had a vision from an Infinity Stone, passed out for an hour, woke up, ranted for half an hour about Infinity Stones and the creation of universe, decided that we needed help from you, teleported us here and passed out again.” 

Sherlock snorted and sat down in his chair. Lauren looked at the unconscious body with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, that’s nothing new, she was always a bit of an overachiever. Sit down, princey, we’ll probably have to wait for at least fifteen minutes until she wakes up.” The brunette jumped on the other chair so Loki sat beside unconscious Khione on the sofa. 

“So, I guess you don’t-“ be started but was cut off by Sherlock. 

“You’re Loki Laufeyson, prince of Asgard, God of Mischief and younger brother of Thor Odinson. Adopted.”

”And judging by your looks, Khione’s apprentice or something. Having problems with your left block, aren’t you?” finished Lauren. Loki looked from one two another. 

“I have it written on my forehead or are you two just so good at deducting?” he asked. 

Lauren snorted. 

“I like you. And I see why Khione does. But seriously, work up a bit on that block or you’ll have all your ribs broken in a week by a frustrated Ice Goddess.” She jumped up. “Sorry, gotta finish my hex before I blow something up.” And she ran upstairs again. Loki looked at Sherlock. 

“She’s a witch?” he asked. 

Sherlock smirked. 

“Kind of. She mostly uses it for hexing our dear colleagues from Scotland Yard and finding out people’s secrets,” he answered. Loki nodded. 

“You’re detectives?”

” _I_ am. A consulting detective. She’s a writer, but that doesn’t stop her from going to crime scenes. She has the whole Yard either bribed or blackmailed.”

Loki chuckled. 

“Under what name she’s writing? I feel like I’m gonna like her books.”

”They’re mostly dark fantasy. The name’s Anya Rietvield.”

The god smirked. 

“Definitely gonna check it out.”

Suddenly a door slammed downstairs and heavy footsteps and cursing could be heard. Sherlock looked at the door bored.

”Our flatmate, Doctor John Watson. He probably had another row with a machine.”

Loki raised his brow and looked at the door. They swung open and a short blond man with shopping bags came in. 

“Sherlock, would it kill you to go for milk once? And where’s Laurie, she- what in God’s name is a body doing on a sofa?!”

Loki chuckled. 

“It’s not a body, Dr. Watson, Khione here just had an unpleasant meeting with a doorstep. She can be clumsy sometimes,” he easily lied. Sherlock crossed his legs.

“Lauren is reading upstairs, she said she’ll come in ten minutes to finish her experiment.”

John grimaced.

“You won this time, but only because you have a client.” He carried the bags to the kitchen. 

“What’s the case?” he asked.

”Mr. Laufeyson prefers to wait until Khione wakes up,” said Sherlock. 

John turned to the unconscious woman on the sofa.

”Let me examine her, then. She could have hurt herself.”

_My_ _touch_ _burns_ _every_ _living_ _creature_.

Loki put his hand on the doctor’s shoulder.

“There’s no need. She’ll be alright in a couple of minutes, it happens all the time. And she doesn’t like direct touch, it makes her uneasy.”

John nodded slowly and sat down in the chair where Lauren was sitting earlier.

”Okay then.”

•••

As Lauren predicted, ten minutes later Khione stirred and groaned.

”I’m starting to think it wasn’t a good idea,” she mumbled as she pushed herself up slowly.

Loki and Sherlock snorted in unison.

”That was the understatement of the decade,” said Loki. They heard steps from upstairs. Lauren. She walked into the living room and smirked.

”Khione, as usual right on time. Fainting two times a day is a bit much, don’t you think?”

The goddess rolled her eyes.

”I see that your lips are moving but I don’t hear any ‘oh, how you’re feeling, Khione’ from them. I suspect that Loki already told you what happened?”

John looked confused from one person to another. Lauren sat on the floor beside Sherlock’s chair, nodded and then shook her head, not decided. 

“We know that the Ego Stone went active and you passed out twice, but that’s all. Care to enlighten us?” she said with a normal for her dose of irony.

Khione’s gaze moved to John.

”John knows?”

”No, but we’ll explain it later. Last time it happened-“ started Sherlock, but was cut off.

”Ten years ago,” said Loki and Khione in unison.

”Then why did it go active now? You said that it could be silent for several decades.”

Khione nodded and grimaced.

”We have a big storm coming, and it might not end well for more than a half of the universe.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feelings?


	13. diamonds are forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: okay so i edited and its alright now, no weird caps where i didnt know what to write and italics and a normal ending so please read away and comment!

 

>  “ _DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER BUT ALL WE NEED IS JUST TONIGHT” ~_ IGNITE BY K391 (and few others) 

Khione leaned back on the sofa with a groan.   
  
“This will be quite long, so brace yourselves. This vision was almost two times longer than the previous one, the one about Loki. What is bloody not good is that Loki plays quite an important role in this one too.”   
  
Loki looked at her.   
  
“It’s worse than what already happened, isn’t it?”   
  
Khione didn’t meet his eyes.   
  
“Much worse.”   
  
The god sighed.   
  
“Guess I’ll have to get used to it. Shoot.”   
  
”There is someone named Thanos, he’s a Titan from what I know. His planet was destroyed and apparently he’s convinced that there is too much life in the universe but too little resources. He has his empire, he controls several nations. And he’s searching for Infinity Stones.”   
  
Loki exhaled slowly. Sherlock and Lauren looked at Khione, their gazes calculating. John looked at them as if they all went crazy.   
  
”He wants to wipe out half of the living creatures of the entire reality. And, technically, with the Infinity Stones he’ll be able to do it. He already has the Mind Stone. Or rather, one of the races he controls has it, but it’s basically the same thing. It’s placed in a scepter. The Tesseract - the Space Stone - is on Earth in a S.H.I.E.L.D. base currently. The Aether - the Reality Stone - is hidden in some cave deep in Svartalheim. The Time Stone in the Eye of Agamotto is in the possession of the Sorcerer Supreme on Earth. The Power Stone in The Orb is hidden on Morag. I don’t know where the Soul Stone is, the bond with it is too weak.”   
  
“This is crazy! You all went bonkers!” exclaimed John, standing up. Khione raised an eyebrow and raised her hand. She looked at Laurie.   
  
“Will your landlady be very cross about another hole in the wall?” she asked. Lauren chuckled.   
  
“I don’t think she’ll notice. There’s a lot of holes.”   
  
Khione smirked and opened her palm. A huge icicle shot from her hand and dug into the opposite wall. John sat down.   
  
Sherlock looked at Khione.   
  
“How do you want to stop him?”   
  
Khione looked at her hands.   
  
“The problem is that I can’t do almost anything. I can’t risk linking the Ego Stone with the others. I can’t risk Nemesis being created again. And we don’t only need to keep the Ego from the others. We have to keep all of them hidden as good as we can, because even only six can destroy the world. Even two of them should never even be on the same planet.”   
  
Loki looked at her again.   
  
“So what can we do?”   
  
”There is a group of extraordinary people on Earth. Well, not yet a group. They are our only chance to defeat Thanos.”   
  
”But?” asked Lauren.   
  
Khione put her head in her hands.   
  
“They need a common enemy to join forces. A controlled enemy, a double agent who works for Thanos.”   
  
Loki inhaled sharply.   
  
“You mean me.”   
  
Khione once again didn’t meet his eyes, but shook her head stubbornly.   
  
“We have to think of another way. I can’t let you do this.”   
  
Lauren and Sherlock looked at each other. _There might not be another way_ . Loki looked a bit sick but determined.   
  
“You said this is our only chance.”   
  
Khione once again shook her head.   
  
“It can’t be. That’s why we’re here. Sherlock and L are our only hope of figuring out something else.”   
  
Lauren hesitated. She knew why Khione was asking them for this. The things that Loki will probably be forced to go through... she cared for him too much.   
  
”We can’t even start without more concrete data, Khione,” said Sherlock.   
  
Khione looked at Loki for the first time.   
  
“I’m too weak to do this without a connection and I can’t touch them. Help me?”   
  
The god nodded.   
  
“Of course.”   
  
Khione grabbed his hand and he extended the other one to the humans.   
  
“Hold it.”   
  
They did. Even John, albeit reluctantly. And they were flooded with information. Thanos. Infinity Stones. Loki. The Avengers.   
  
Khione broke contact. John looked overwhelmed. Lauren and Sherlock had the same calculating look again. They were silent for a moment, just thinking. Lauren looked at John.   
  
“For the sake of the universe, John give me some paper and a marker.”   
  
He complied, still a bit shook. Sherlock was in his mind palace. Lauren started to draw a mind map, connecting everything they knew.   
  
•••   
  
They were thinking for hours. John went to bed, still shaking his head at the insanity of the situation. Lauren’s mind map covered half of the floor. Khione was sleeping, still exhausted by the vision and teleporting through half of the universe. She had a frown on her face, it was obvious that her dreams weren’t good. But Loki didn’t wake her. She had to rest, even with nightmares. He was still sitting on the sofa, examining every detail of the vision in his head. He didn’t see another way, but... he’d have to become a monster. And Thor... Thor wouldn’t know anything about the plan. If he didn’t hate him already, he certainly will then.   
  
_Good_ , said a little vengeful voice in the back of his mind. _What do you need him for? He abandoned you. He wants to kill you, like he did with any other Jotun. He never respected you, never listened to you. What do you need him for?_   
  
Loki shook his head and stood up slowly. Lauren looked up at him. He pointed at the kitchen and she nodded. He went to make himself some tea. The kitchen was... a mess an understatement. He even spotted a frozen mouse, laying on the counter. He grimaced a bit and tried to find a can of tea.   
  
•••   
  
Loki leaned on the kitchen counter as his tea brewed.   
  
It’s our only chance , said the voice in his head, this time sounding awfully like Khione.   
  
He heard almost silent footsteps, heading in his direction. Lauren walked into the kitchen. She swept away some papers that were laying on the table and sat on it, looking at her hands.   
  
“You know there is no other way,” Loki realised.   
  
She sighed.   
  
“From what we saw in the vision and from what Khione said... there isn’t. There is no one else who can bring the Avengers together. No one can do it instead of you, not even her. Thanos probably already knows about your disappearance from Asgard. Khione can’t substitute you, no matter how much she wants to do it, because Thanos will suspect something. And we can’t tell anyone else, the risk will be too high. It has to be you, Loki. I’m sorry, we tried,” she said quietly.   
  
Loki sighed and took a sip of his tea.   
  
“At least I’ll do something good for the universe. Even if no one is going to know about it.”   
  
Lauren’s green-and-grey eyes pierced his emerald green ones with anger.   
  
“Loki, he’ll probably torture you into submission. He’ll try to control your mind with the Stone. And you’ll have to fake resistance! Do you even know what are you agreeing to?” she exclaimed in a hushed tone. Loki grimaced.   
  
“I know enough. The only thing that concerns me is how will I manage to get the plan done with my head open to that madman.”   
  
Lauren’s expression was something that Loki could only describe as “scheming face”. Then, she lit up.   
  
“There might be something we can do about that.”   
  
•••   
  
Khione didn’t wake up in another five hours. It was morning already, when Loki saw her stir.   
  
“What’s the time?” she asked sleepily, pushing herself up.   
  
“4 am,” he answered. Sherlock didn’t sleep at all and Lauren only dozed off for an hour. Khione groaned.   
  
“That sofa is awful.” She looked at the ‘consulting detectives’. “Sorry for falling asleep.”   
  
Sherlock just waved his hand in a ‘don’t-worry-about-it’ kind of gesture. Lauren didn’t meet her eyes.   
  
“Did you figure it out?” she asked, trying not letting too much hope into her voice.   
  
No one answered. Khione sighed and put her head in her hands. Loki looked at her sadly.   
  
“I’ll do it, Khione.”   
  
She looked at him with anger and stood up.   
  
“No. I’m not letting you. I’ll do it myself, I’ll do anything not to make you do that.”

”Khione-“

”You don’t know what you’re doing. I see him all the time if I want, even now. I just never knew he’ll be insane enough to act. Do you want to know how cruel he is? How much without mercy? Please, take a look!” she yelled at him, while striding to forcefully grab his hand.   
  
His eyes rolled back into his head.   
  
_Thanos torturing a man for information until he’s only a red pulp._ _  
_ _  
_ _Thanos telling Ebony Maw (_ Khione told him his name _) to break into a trader’s head and destroy him from the inside._ _  
_ _  
_ _The Black Order on a murder spree, viciously killing men, women and children._ _  
_ _  
_ _Thanos’s men killing the Zehoberi people, while he manipulates a little girl with black and red hair._ _  
_ _  
_ _Thanos forcing his adopted daughters to fight themselves._ _  
_ _  
_ _Thanos replacing Nebula’s arm with a machine, while she screams in pain._ _  
_ _  
_ _Thanos giving a speech on how life in the universe is twisted and wrong and he’ll become its saviour and cutting off a ‘traitor’s’ head._   
  
Khione broke away.   
  
“Do you understand now?!” she yelled, tears brimming her eyes. Lauren watched in shock. The Ice Queen never cried, not in front of people.   
  
Loki closed his eyes.   
  
“Yes, I do understand that, Khione,” he said quietly. But when he opened his eyes, there was nothing but fierce determination in the green orbs. “And I also know that I killed almost an entire race, I almost wiped out an entire Realm from existence, I almost killed my brother, no matter how adopted and an asshole he is, and I almost killed Heimdall. If I have any way if redeeming what I did, it’s this. And we can’t let him murder half of the universe, I won’t allow it, not if I can help it. You know it’s got to be me, and you know you can’t do anything about it.”   
  
Khione tugged at her hair in overwhelming frustration. She had a tremendous urge to freeze everything in sight, leave nothing but ice and she tried to control herself. She couldn’t kill anybody else.   
  
She looked at Loki, anger and frustration welling up in her and almost spilling over. Her fists were glowing with a white and purple light. A wind started to blow around her.   
  
“No. I can’t let you do this. I can’t let you willingly choose your tormentor, I can’t let him torture you, I can’t let you break, I can’t let you become... I CAN’T LET YOU BECOME WHAT I BECAME, LOKI!”

Loki wasn’t distracted by her power. He made step forward and took Khione’s face in his eyes hands. The storm calmed down a bit. He looked into her moony eyes.

“Calm down. Look into my head.”

She frowned but complied. The second she entered his mind, she was almost attacked by his thoughts.

_I don’t know what you think you became, and I don’t care what you did wrong in your life. Just as you don’t care what I did. I know that it’ll always haunt you, but look._

He showed her his memories.

_Khione saving him from the fall. Khione reassuring him that he’s not a monster. Khione forgiving him that he created her shackles. Khione understanding his need for space when he has nightmares. Khione showing him dragons and letting him calm down by spending time with them. Khione being a constant reminder that life is worth fighting for, even when it’s just to irritate your enemies. Khione teaching him how to use his talents. Khione being a solid rock for him when he loses his balance and any scrap of faith he has left. Khione being the friend he never had._

The storm calmed down completely.

 _Do you understand now?_ he asked.

Khione didn’t answer. She left his mind and hugged him tightly. Loki exhaled with relief.

Lauren watched the exchange with a soft smile, one that rarely appeared on her face. They reminded her of her wife, but this time she didn’t let the sadness and loss overcome her. She watched as her friend found someone to fight for and that was what counted the most.

After a minute she cleared her throat.


	14. remember me for centuries

> “REMEMBER ME, REMEMBER ME FOR CENTURIES” CENTURIES BY FALL OUT BOY

Lauren cleared her throat. Khione cleared her throat in embarrassment and looked at the mess she made. Lauren’s entire mind map was messed up. She looked at the girl apologetically. Lauren just waved her hand. 

“Don’t worry about it. Sit down, both of you. We have an idea how can you help Loki without even getting near to the Stones.”

Khione immediately sat down, Loki followed with less enthusiasm. Even though he knew he had to do this (save the universe, wipe the blood of Jotuns off his hands, etc.), being tortured by a psycho Titan wasn’t a very appealing thought. No matter what he told Khione.

Sherlock looked at the goddess. 

“You’re a telepath.”

She nodded. 

“The best in the universe.”

Sherlock smirked. 

“Better than the one that works for Thanos?”

Khione scoffed. 

“Ebony Maw? He’s a child compared to me. Of course I’m better.”

Lauren smirked.

”Good enough to protect Loki’s consciousness from the Mind Stone?”

Khione hesitated. 

“If that’s your plan...”

She thought for a minute. Loki could almost see the cogs turning in her head. At last, she sighed. 

“With the help of the Ego Stone, I could protect Loki’s mind, so Maw doesn’t notice, but...”

Loki grimaced. There was always a ‘but’.

”But?” he asked. 

It was Khione’s turn to grimace. 

“One. I’ll have to be in your head the entire time, so my body will be in a coma, defenseless. Two. I... I can’t protect your feelings. The Mind Stone not only affects the thoughts. It fuels up emotions. In Thanos’s case, he’ll probably power up your rage towards Thor. And suppress your love for him. That’s the problem. I can’t help it, I’m not an empath. And even if I were, I couldn’t have done both at once, Infinity Stones are incredibly powerful.”

Loki sighed. 

“I guess better that than nothing. At least I’ll manage to get the plan done.”

Khione grimaced a bit. She still wasn’t entirely convinced, but didn’t argue anymore. 

“So, if we’re talking about the plan, we should start making it, don’t we?” she said. 

And so they went to work. 

•••

That’s how John stumbled upon them, trying to head to the kitchen four hours later. Thank God it was Saturday and he didn’t need to go to work. A new mind map was all over the floor, now not only in Laurie’s handwriting but also Sherlock’s and those two “gods” probably. Sherlock was sitting upside down on his armchair, hands clasped together under his chin. Not in his mind palace ‘cause he was exchanging comments with the rest. Laurie was cautiously moving around the map, adding corrections here and there. The guy, Loki was laying on the couch, eyes closed and a frown on his face. The woman, Khione, was hovering a few inches above the mind map with a grimace, examining the details. John almost made a double take at that. She could fly?

Her head snapped up. 

“Levitate. Not really useful ‘cause what I’m doing now is basically the limit.”

Suddenly, another Loki emerged from the laying one. John’s jaw dropped. The other Loki chuckled. 

“It’s an illusion. I don’t want to mess anything up.” 

John took a deep breath. 

“You guys are crazy.”

They looked at each other and then at him with matching manic grins. 

“We know.”

John sighed and went to make himself some tea, careful not to disturb the paper. 

•••

”So, basically you’re gonna put me in a coma and leave on a planet that is currently under Thanos’s surveillance where I accidentally landed after falling through a wormhole. Then, I’ll have to fake resistance as he tries to persuade me to join him, then act as if I was serving him, in the meantime trying to keep my emotions as normal as I can, convince him that I want to take over Midgard as a revenge on Thor, promise him the Tesseract, make him give me the scepter as an insurance, then really invade Midgard, make the Avengers work together, fail at invading it, leaving the scepter in their hands so it doesn’t come back to Thanos, keep an eye on the Tesseract, try to subtly let the Avengers know that there is a bigger threat the whole time, let myself get imprisoned on Asgard where we sit and wait for what will happen with the Aether, ‘cause we know nothing more precise. And we have three weeks to get ready, because it will be suspicious otherwise,” said Loki in a sarcastic tone. Lauren chuckled and Sherlock smirked.

“Basically,” they said in unison. John rolled his eyes.

”Totally fool-proof,” the god sighed.

Khione punched Loki lightly on the arm. 

“One, I’ll be there all the time, two, it _is_  almost entirely fool-proof,” she said. 

Loki scoffed. 

“How do you know that Odin won’t just cut my head off?”

A shadow went through her face. 

“Frigga. She won’t let him. If not, them I’ll just... rescue you earlier.”

Loki sighed. 

“Okay.”

Khione snapped her fingers and the map teleported to Niflheim. She looked at the detectives. 

“Okay, thanks guys, don’t know what would we do without you. So, we gotta go home so I can get this self-sacrificing dumbass ready for that awful plan.”

Loki let out an offended noise and Lauren chuckled. 

“Bye Khione,” she said. Sherlock waved his hand too. John just collapsed on his armchair and glared at the two detectives. 

“Explain,” was the last word that Khione and Loki heard before teleporting to Niflheim. 

•••

”Okay. Change of day plan. We get up an hour earlier and go to sleep an hour later. Breakfast, combat in the training room, magic in combat practice, lunch, useful spells and conjuring and at the end something new that I’ll explain tomorrow. If I’m going to let you do that bloody stupid idiotic plan of yours, you can be damn well sure that I’ll get you ready. Understood?” Her voice was sharp and commanding as they walked up the stairs. Loki crossed his arms. 

“Well enough. Three weeks to prepare and an impossible plan of stopping a mad Titan from destroying the universe. I guess the odds are on our side.”

Khione snorted and shook her head, stopping before the corridor leading to her room. 

“You and your bloody sense of humor. You better don’t get killed or I’ll bring you back and kill you again,” she threatened, shaking her finger at him. Loki rolled his eyes. 

“We both know that you wouldn’t do that,” he taunted. She leaned to him. 

“And why do you think so?” He leaned to her too with a smirk. 

“‘Cause you love me too much.”

Khione snorted. 

“Honey, I don’t love anything. Love is nothing without pain and I had a fair share of that, thank you.” She straightened herself. “Breakfast at six. Don’t be late or I’ll kick your ass twice as hard.” She went to her room, leaving Loki in the hallway.

•••

He was panting. Who knew that spells and conjuring could be so exhausting? He looked at Khione, fiddling with a console close to the mysterious white cube part of the training room. She wasn't even out of her breath. He rolled his eyes. Of course not, she had tons of practice more. 

"Come over here. Time for the new thing," she called. Loki sighed and went over to her.

"What's that?" he asked.

Khione smirked.

"Well, well, well, aren't you a curious soul." Loki snorted and rolled his eyes. "As for now, I estimate that you have discovered about... 25% of your magic? This," she pointed at the warded cube, "will help you find the rest."

"How?" He looked at the place baffled. Khione grinned and pressed a button on the console. One part of the invisible warding moved, making space for him to walk inside. Khione left it open.

"Once, I close the wards, the anti-gravity field and the sound sigils will activate. You won’t feel or hear anything. The point of this is, that it allows you to reach into your magic without things distracting you. The walls will be indestructible, you just have to reach into yourself and stop controlling your power, unleash it. I discovered couple of things that way, I think it’ll work for you too.”

Loki walked in. Khione looked into his eyes.

”Ready?”

He smirked.

”I was born ready,” he quoted himself. Khione chuckled, understanding the reference.

”You have an hour inside. Good luck.”

She shut the wards.

 


	15. shoot me with a gun of gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki reaches into himself, Khione can’t believe her eyes and the question of Loki’s heritage complicates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for being away for so long.  
> Idk how long is this chapter, probably not rlly, but it has quite a plot twist at the end. Weeeeelll, the whole chapter is a plot twist, mainly for Loki

> “I WISH THAT I DID NOT KNOW WHERE ALL BROKEN LOVERS GO, I WISH THAT MY HEART WAS MADE OF STONE” DIAMOND HEART BY ALAN WALKER AND SOPHIA SOMAJO 

Silence.

Deafening silence.

Loki felt the pull of gravity weakening, to disappear entirely. He slowly crossed his legs in the air. The wall before him, previously transparent and covered in violet sigils, was now completely white, just as the other five sides of the cube. Khione could probably see him, though. He sighed and closed his eyes. This way, he felt literally nothing through his physical senses. No sounds, nothing to touch, nothing to smell, even the lights seemed to dim a bit under his eyelids. But he could _feel_  the magic pulsing around him. Khione’s violet power strands, closing him in the cube with sigils. Her faint cold presence through the white wall. His own green magic weaving in weak tendrils from his hands, blocked by his will. He sighed softly and concentrated on the light inside. 

Loki closed into himself, reaching for his power. Breaking down all of his walls against unleashing his full magic was insanely hard, centuries of building defenses etched into his mind. But he did it. And for the first time in his life, he felt completely free. Wild power ran through his veins, demanding to be let out, to destroy everything in sight, to build monuments from the ashes and expand all over the universe. Loki inhaled deeply. 

Wow. 

 _Let_ _go_. _Unleash_ _it_. Khione’s voice. 

So he listened. 

•••

Loki breathed in deeply. 

The first feeling that hit him, was... warmth. 

The second was that he was standing on the ground, when he clearly remembered floating in the air. He opened his eyes. 

The white wall was clear again, and he could easily see into the rest of the training room. _Where is Khione?_ He looked a bit lower. 

Khione was sitting on her ass about five feet from the cube. She was looking at him with an expression that bordered between awe and fear. He frowned, confused. His gaze strayed to one of the sides of the cube. He froze. 

The perfect white walls were now stained with black smudges. Fire burns. He looked at his hands. _He_ did that? He closed his eyes and was about to summon the power again when he heard Khione yell:

”NO! Don’t!”

He looked at her, while she was gathering herself and standing up. 

“Loki, please, get out of the cube.”

He complied and she sighed with relief. 

“Why?”

Khione rubbed her eyes. 

“Library. Now.”

•••

Khione almost ran all the way. She was entirely silent and that worried Loki a bit. 

Once they got there, Khione started to move along the shelves, picking seemingly random books and scrolls, until she had to make them levitate after her. When she finished, she gestured Loki to come after her. She left the library and continued upstairs, to the Astronomy Tower. On top of it was a round room with huge pillows. The ceiling was made from glass, and starlight illuminated the room. With a flick of her wrist, Khione switched the lights on and laid the books on the floor. 

Loki cleared his throat, wanting to ask something, but Khione only raised her finger to make him shut up. She turned to him.

“Let me talk first.” She made the books and scrolls levitate and open at different pages. They started to fly around them. 

“Across the lore of more advanced civilisations of the universe, excluding Asgard, there is one repetitive trope. Only one. Fire Gods. Mostly depicted as birds or some other flying creature. The most widely spread name for it is the Phoenix.” She gestured at a couple of books that flew up to her and showed Loki a picture of a bird made of fire. “Phoenix was supposed to be the soul of the fire element, the only element who didn’t dissolve in the creation, the only one who Nemesis left alive. The bird was also pictured as a shapeshifter, often choosing the form of a young woman with fiery red hair.” As she spoke, books flew around the room, adjusting their place so that Loki could see the pictures illustrating Khione’s words. The ice goddess continued. “Phoenix was meant to be one of the two fire gods. The second one was Surtur, her opposite. Phoenix was meant to defend, Surtr to destroy. But three thousand years ago, people suddenly stopped writing about Phoenix. Little less than two thousand years ago, Surtur started to be a little bit more similar to what Phoenix was supposed to be. He still was and is meant to destroy, but only Asgard. He started to think for himself, to consider his options. Most cultures forgot Phoenix. No one wondered what happened to her, because she obviously was only a myth, right? No. She wasn’t. Phoenix was real. She disappeared three thousand years ago and no one knew what happened. Until now.”

She reached for one of the scrolls, the only one that didn’t open. Loki still had a hard time keeping up with her. Khione took the scroll and passed held it befpre Loki. 

“This is the only thing left in the universe that I think might have been created by Phoenix. It’s energy reassembles the one in hearts of stars quite a bit. I found it on Jotunheim.” She moved it closer to the god. “Touch it.”

Still not entirely understanding what exactly was the connection between him and the Phoenix, Loki grabbed the scroll. 

It started to glow.

**Author's Note:**

> so, feelings?
> 
> again thank you Lily for the reviews so long ago


End file.
